9780310823544 FollowPG sc int - Christianbook
Transcript of 9780310823544 FollowPG sc int - Christianbook
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JESUS SAYS
Jesus extended an invitation to follow to every single kind of
person imaginable—rich people, poor people, people who were
spiritual, people who weren’t spiritual. He didn’t place a bunch of
conditions on his offer. He just invited them to follow.
One account of Jesus inviting someone to follow him is found
in the gospel written by Matthew. Matthew was one of Jesus’
followers. In this part of his gospel, he tells a story about himself.
The story introduces us to the profound but simple idea of
following Jesus. Here is what Matthew wrote:
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named
Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”
he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
Matthew 9:9
Simple, right? But in Jesus’ culture, tax collectors were the lowest
of the low. They were Jewish people collecting Roman taxes from
other Jews. They were hated. They were outcasts. They couldn’t
go to the temple. They couldn’t be a part of society. They could
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only hang out with other tax collectors because even sinners
didn’t want to be around them.
Jesus could have walked up to Matthew and said sarcastically,
“I bet your mother is really proud you!” Jesus was considered
a rabbi. All of the harsh and disapproving things he could have
or should have said to Matthew would have been justifi ed as far
as the culture around them was concerned. But Jesus looked at
Matthew the tax collector and said, “Follow me.”
The crowd surrounding Jesus and Matthew probably thought
they’d misheard Jesus. They must have been confused. Surely
he didn’t say, “Follow me.” But that’s exactly what Jesus said.
And Matthew would never forget it. Those two words, spoken by
Jesus, changed his life forever.
How radical was Jesus’ call to Matthew? When all eyes were on
the Son of God, he chose to reach out to a tax collector. Was he
approving of Matthew’s life? Was he saying, even indirectly, that
sin didn’t matter?
DISCUSSION STARTER
Talk about one of your favorite bosses, coaches, or teachers.
What made it easy for you to follow that person?
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SESSION 1: JESUS SAYS
VIDEO OVERVIEW
For Session 1 of the DVD
Jesus was extraordinarily comfortable with people who weren’t
anything like him. Based on what we read in Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, people who were nothing like Jesus were
extraordinarily comfortable with him too. Have you ever met
someone who is so comfortable with himself, he makes everyone
else comfortable? Jesus was like that … a hundredfold. That’s a
big deal because Jesus was God in a body. He wasn’t obligated
to make everyone around him feel comfortable. Based on all the
sin in the world, he would have been entirely justifi ed in making
everyone feel uncomfortable.
But Jesus was so comfortable in his own skin that he didn’t
hesitate to hang out with sinners, outcasts, lowlifes, and even tax
collectors like Matthew. Most of us avoid people like that because
we worry about what other people—“better” people—will think if
they see us. If I hang around with the broken and dysfunctional,
people will assume I’m broken and dysfunctional, too, right?
In fact, that’s exactly what the Pharisees—the religious leaders
of Jesus’ day—wondered about Jesus. The Bible records their
response:
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When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and
sinners?”
Matthew 1:11
It’s easy to dismiss the Pharisees as being small-minded and
intolerant, but put in the same situation, we’d all be tempted to
ask the same question. After all, Jesus was like them. He was a
rabbi and they were rabbis. He was a law-keeper and they were
law-keepers. He was holy and they were holy. So, why would
Jesus choose to hang out with people who were nothing like
him—people who were far from God—instead of hanging out with
people who believed in the same religious rules and traditions?
Here’s how Jesus answered their question:
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need
a doctor, but the sick.”
Matthew 9:12
Now, imagine that Matthew was sitting right there when Jesus
responded to the Pharisees. He heard what Jesus said. A guest in
his home, at his dinner table, called him and his friends “the sick.”
Maybe Matthew was offended. Or maybe, because he was a tax
collector, he already knew he was sick.
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SESSION 1: JESUS SAYS
The truth is, when it comes to sin, we’re all sick. We’re not even
consistent at keeping the rules we set for ourselves, let alone
keeping God’s rules. If you’re a parent, you probably set rules for
your kids that you don’t even keep. All parents do that. No one is
perfect. Deep down, we all know that if our relationship with God
depends on how we keep his rules, we’re in trouble.
Jesus changed all that. He shared meals with sinners. He didn’t
pretend they were okay. He made it clear that he knew they were
sinners and he knew they knew they were sinners. But he was so
comfortable in his own skin that he didn’t worry about what the
Pharisees or anyone else thought about the company he chose
to keep. This is what he told the Pharisees next:
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not
sacrifi ce.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners.”
Matthew 9:13
Jesus didn’t worry that others would think less of him. Instead,
he invited those who were far from God to experience God’s love
… by following him. He wasn’t content to just be with people who
believed all the right things or behaved in all the right ways. He
wanted to join with the people who believed all the right things
and behaved in all the right ways in order to call those who didn’t.
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This is important because it means the church all over the
world can’t become a place that is content to gather together
and believe the right things and behave in the right ways and
stop there. If we do, we’ll fi nd ourselves outside the room Jesus
inhabits when he comes to call the sick and the sinners who
need a Savior.
It’s not enough to believe right. It’s not enough to behave
right. Christians who are content with that eventually become
Pharisees. They become judgmental. They become the ones
who demand that others change before they can begin to follow
Jesus.
But Jesus called sinners and unbelievers to follow him. He didn’t
demand that they change fi rst. He didn’t even demand that they
believe he was the Son of God. He knew that if they just followed,
if they just took a step in his direction, it would change them.
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SESSION 1: JESUS SAYS
VIDEO NOTES
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Did you grow up in a church that emphasized doing what Jesus
says over following him? Or if you didn’t grow up going to church,
did you assume that’s what Christianity was all about? How has
the “Jesus says” mindset affected your spiritual journey so far?
2. Jesus was extraordinarily comfortable with people who were
nothing like him. How might your community, your nation, and the
world be different if the church treated people the way Jesus did?
3. In Jesus’ culture, tax collectors were considered the lowest of the
low. What kinds of people occupy that position in our culture? Is
it challenging for you to believe that Jesus would extend an offer
to those people to follow him? Why or why not?
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SESSION 1: JESUS SAYS
4. How comforting is the idea that Jesus wants everyone to follow
him regardless of what they believe or how they behave? How is
it challenging?
5. What are some things that make it diffi cult for you to follow
Jesus?
6. What is one thing you can do this week to begin to follow Jesus
or to follow him more closely? What can this group do to support
you?
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MOVING FORWARD
Jesus’ invitation to follow is for you.
Being a sinner doesn’t disqualify you; it’s a prerequisite. Being
an unbeliever doesn’t disqualify you. The invitation to follow
is purely an invitation to relationship. It’s not an invitation to
obedience. It’s an invitation to a relationship with your Father in
heaven.
CHANGING YOUR MIND
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and
take up their cross and follow me.”
Mark 8:34
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PREPARATION FOR SESSION 2
To prepare for Session 2, use these devotions during the week
leading up to your small group meeting.
DAY ONE
Read Romans 2:1–2. Consider our tendency to judge one another.
What does faith look like when we let God judge others instead
of doing so ourselves?
DAY TWO
Read Romans 2:1–4. Have you ever considered our tendency
to judge others as contempt for God’s kindness, forbearance,
and patience? In what ways has God’s kindness led you to
repentance?
DAY THREE
Read Luke 5:1–5. Have you ever felt God’s call for you to do
something that didn’t make sense? If so, what happened? How
did that experience change your faith?
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DAY FOUR
Read Luke 5:1–8. Like Simon Peter in verse 8, no one’s faith
can match God’s abundance. When have you experienced this
principle?
DAY FIVE
Read Luke 5:1–11. Letting down their nets was a single step that
led to a lifetime of growing faith for Simon Peter, James, and
John. What was your fi rst step of faith?
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